Technology Acceptance and the Uptake of Agricultural DSS

Despite their availability in a wide range of formats the take up of agricultural Decision Support Systems by farmers and agronomists, in the UK and in Europe as a whole is still disappointingly low. This paper sets out to examine the utility of a model widely used in mainstream IT development to explain the success or failure of technologies, the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989). It examines the models ability to account for the multiple factors for agricultural DSS failure identified by previous authors, in the light of the most recent discussions in our industry. It concludes that a combination of a user-centred design and support philosophy and a professional approach to marketing offers the best route to success.

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